Those looking for electricity in their mixed martial artists need
to look no further than
Jiri
Prochazka.
“BJP” will return to the stage for the first time in nearly 17
months when he meets
Alex
Pereira for the vacant
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title in the
UFC 295 headliner this Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New
York. Prochazka, 31, enters the Octagon on the strength of a
13-fight winning streak that has pushed his overall record to a
remarkable 29-3-1. He has secured 28 of those 29 victories via
knockout, technical knockout or submission, 23 of them inside one
round.
As Prochazka makes final preparations for his forthcoming showdown
with Pereira at 205 pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that
have helped shape his career to this point:
The explosive and naturally violent Prochazka started his
professional MMA career with four consecutive finishes—none lasted
longer than 2:48—before he ran into Velickovic in the Supreme
Fighting Championship 1 headliner on Dec. 9, 2012 in Belgrade,
Serbia. It did not go according to plan. Velickovic moved inside on
the Czech with straight punches, executed a takedown from the
clinch and applied his ground-and-pound, steadily increasing the
intensity of his blows. Prochazka ultimately surrendered his back,
went belly down on the canvas and absorbed further punishment until
the stoppage was called.
Prochazka emerged as the last man standing in the
Rizin Fighting Federation light heavyweight grand prix
semifinals when he was awarded a technical knockout over the
Russian in between the first and second rounds of their “Iza no
Mai” pairing on Dec. 31, 2015 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama,
Japan. The two men took turns leading the dance, as Prochazka
flexed his superiority in the standup exchanges and Nemkov answered
with takedowns, positional control, ground-and-pound and repeated
submission attempts. However, the future
Bellator
MMA champion paid a steep price for the gains he made. Nemkov
suffered significant damage to his left eye and exhausted himself
to such a degree that it became evident he had crossed the point of
no return. When the bell sounded to conclude Round 1, the
Fedor
Emelianenko protégé remained on the canvas, indicated he could
not reach his corner under his own power and conceded defeat.
Unfortunately, there was no carry-over effect for Prochazka. He was
felled by a one-punch knockout from Muhammad Lawal in the
tournament final.
A little more than three years after their initial encounter,
Prochazka landed his desired rematch with “King Mo” and made the
most of the opportunity. “Denisa” captured the inaugural Rizin
Fighting Federation light heavyweight championship when he buried
Lawal with punches in the third round of their Rizin 15 main event
on April 21, 2019 at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. Prochazka
drew the curtain 3:02 into Round 3. The Czech never stopped hurling
punches at Lawal and eventually wore down the former
Strikeforce
titleholder with merciless pace. Prochazka utilized an effective
sprawl to steer clear of takedowns, drew the Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, native into a firefight and methodically chipped away at
his resolve with effective combination punching. By the time they
reached the third round, the proverbial writing was on the wall.
Prochazka sprawled out of a desperation takedown, turned up the
volume and swarmed the
American Top Team rep with punches, flooring him with two right
uppercuts. As soon as Lawal hit the canvas, referee
Minoru
Toyonaga moved in to prevent unnecessary carnage.
Prochazka put away the revered Brazilian with a no-hooks rear-naked
choke and laid claim to the undisputed Ultimate Fighting
Championship light heavyweight title in the UFC 275 main event on
June 12, 2022 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
Teixeira capitulated 4:32 into Round 5, suffering the only
submission defeat of his 42-fight career. Back and forth they went
for four-plus rounds, exchanging takedowns, dominant positions,
submission attempts and heavy leather. Neither man was willing to
give in to the pain or punishment. Teixeira carved out a horrendous
gash above his opponent’s left eye with a savage elbow strike in
the second round before Prochazka returned the favor in the third,
opening a cut across the bridge of his counterpart’s. As they
entered Round 5, it was anyone’s fight. Teixeira executed takedown,
achieved full mount and threatened with an arm-triangle choke.
However, Prochazka never considered surrender as an option. He
slipped out of Teixeira’s grasp, wheeled behind him and snuck his
arms in place for the choke. His powerful squeeze and fatigue
combined to do the rest, and they were enough to end Teixeira’s
unlikely reign atop the 205-pound weight class.